The walk
by TheStevieGirl
Summary: The first chapter of SK re-done. I'm a fluff writer so I made Dimka a bit more emotional. R&R I do not own!


**The Walk**

**Hey guys! This idea came to me when I was re-reading **_**Shadow Kiss**_**. You guys know I love fluff so I think the conversation at the very beginning on SK could be different. Dimka could've shown some emotion. I don't own VA but I wish I did! I'd love to own Dimka! R&R and let me know what you think!**

"Are you sleepwalking?" a voice asked behind me.

I spun around, startled. Dimitri stood there watching me, looking both amused and curious. It would figure that while I was raging over the problems in my unfair love life, the source of those problems would be the one to find me. I hadn't heard him approach at all. So much for my ninja skills. And honestly, would it have killed me to pick up a brush before I went outside? Hastily, I ran a hand through my long hair, knowing it was a little too late. It probably looked like an animal had died on top of my head.

"I was testing dorm security," I said. "It sucks."

A hint of a smile played over his lips. The cold was really starting to seep into me now, and I couldn't help but notice how warm his long leather coat looked. I wouldn't have minded wrapping up in it.

As though reading my mind, he said, "You must be freezing. Do you want my coat?"

"If I have your jacket, you'll freeze, then what will be the point?" Another smile played on his lips and he draped his jacket around me. It was warm and smelled just like him. I pulled it around me tight and Dimitri but an arm around my shoulders, unusual for him. I got a good look at his muscles when he did. He had on a long sleeve sweater, the color of gravel.

"What are you doing out here? Are you testing security too?" I asked.

"I am security. This is my watch." Shifts of school guardians always patrolled the grounds while everyone else slept. Strigoi, the undead vampires who stalked living Moroi vampires like Lissa, didn't come out in sunlight, but students breaking rules–say, like, sneaking out of their dorms–were a problem night and day.

"Well, good work," I said. "I'm glad I was able to help test your awesome skills. I should be going now."

"Rose–" Dimitri's hand caught my arm, and despite all the wind and chill and slush, a flash of heat shot through me. He must've felt the same thing because he flinched but didn't let go.

.

"What are you really doing out here?"

I gave him the best true lie I could. "I had a bad dream. I wanted some air."

"And so you just rushed out. Breaking the rules didn't even cross your mind–and neither did putting on a coat."

"Yup. That pretty much sums it up!" He suddenly stopped and turned me to face him.

"Rose, Rose." This time it was his exasperated voice. "You never change. Always jumping in without thinking."

"That's not true," I protested. "I've changed a lot."

The amusement on his face suddenly faded, his expression growing troubled. He studied me for several moments. Sometimes I felt as though those eyes could see right into my soul. "You're right. You have changed, and so has how I feel about you."

I didn't like to see Dimitri concerned, though, so I played off his observation with a joke.

"Well, don't worry. My birthday's coming up. As soon as I'm eighteen, I'll be an adult, right? I'm sure I'll wake up that morning and be all mature and stuff. Wait, what did you say?" Did he say his feelings for me have changed?!

"Roza," he read my mind, "I love you _more_. That's how they've changed." He leaned down and met my lips.

The flashback of Lissa and Christian came, but soon disappeared. Christian had nothing on Dimitri. Who ever thought I'd be comparing _Christian_ and _Dimitri's _ kissing?!

He pulled away and gave me a full fledged smile. I couldn't help but smile to. "Now, about your birthday Roza, how many days? Around a month right?"

"Thirty-one days," I announced primly.

"Not that you're counting."

I shrugged, and he laughed.

"I suppose you've made a birthday list too. Ten pages? Single-spaced? Ranked by order of priority?" The smile was still on his face. It was one of the relaxed, genuinely amused ones that were so rare to him.

I started to make another joke, but the image of Lissa and Christian flared into my mind again. That sad and empty feeling in my stomach returned. Anything I might have wanted – new clothes, an iPod, whatever–suddenly seemed trivial. What did material things like that mean compared to the one thing I wanted most of all? God, I really had changed.

"No," I said in a small voice. "No list."

He tilted his head to better look at me, making some of his shoulder-length hair blow into his face. His hair was brown, like mine, but not nearly as dark. Mine looked black at times. He brushed the unruly strands aside, only to have them immediately blow back into his face. "I can't believe you don't want anything. It's going to be a boring birthday."

_I want you and freedom._ I thought. I must've said it aloud, and loud enough for him to pick up on it because his smile faded. I looked down at my feet, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Roza, you know-"

"It doesn't matter," I insisted.

"What do you–" He stopped. He understood. He always did. It was part of why we connected like we did, in spite of the seven-year gap in our ages. We'd fallen for each other last fall when he'd been my combat instructor. As things heated up between us, we'd found we had more things to worry about than just age. We were both going to be protecting Lissa when she graduated, and we couldn't let our feelings for each other distract us when she was our priority.

Of course, that was easier said than done because I didn't think our feelings for each other were ever really going to go away. We'd both had moments of weakness, moments that led to stolen kisses or saying things we really shouldn't have. After I'd escaped the Strigoi, Dimitri had told me he loved me and had pretty much admitted he could never be with anyone else because of that. Yet, it had also become clear that we still couldn't be together either, and we had both slipped back into our old roles of keeping away from each other and pretending that our relationship was strictly professional.

"Roza," he said facing me once more, "I love you, know that. Here are the keys. Go inside straight to your room. I'll see you at practice." He rounded the corner and I froze when I heard voices.

You're not on watch," I heard Dimitri say several moments later.

"No, but I needed to talk to you." I recognized the voice. It belonged to Alberta, captain of the Academy's guardians. "It'll just take a minute. We need to shuffle some of the watches while you're at the trial."

"I figured," he said. There was a funny, almost uncomfortable note in his voice. "It's going to put a strain on everyone else–bad timing."

"Yes, well, the queen runs on her own schedule." Alberta sounded frustrated, and I tried to figure out what was going on. "Celeste will take your watches, and she and Emil will divide up your training times."

Training times? Dimitri wouldn't be conducting any trainings next week because– Ah. That was it, I realized. The field experience. Tomorrow kicked off six weeks of hands-on practice for us novices. We'd have no classes and would get to protect Moroi night and day while the adults tested us. The "training times" must be when Dimitri would be out participating in that. But what was this trial she'd mentioned? Did they mean like the final trials we had to undergo at the end of the school year?

"They say they don't mind the extra work," continued Alberta, "but I was wondering if you could even things out and take some of their shifts before you leave?"

"Absolutely," he said, words still short and stiff.

"Thanks. I think that'll help." She sighed. "I wish I knew how long this trial was going to be. I don't want to be away that long. You'd think it'd be a done deal with Dashkov, but now I hear the queen's getting cold feet about imprisoning a major royal."

I stiffened. The chill running through me now had nothing to do with the winter day. Dashkov?

"I'm sure they'll do the right thing," said Dimitri. I realized at that moment why he wasn't saying much. This wasn't something I was supposed to hear.

"I hope so. And I hope it'll only take a few days, like they claim. Look, it's miserable out here. Would you mind coming into the office for a second to look at the schedule?"

"Sure," he said. "Let me check on something first."

"All right. See you soon."

Silence fell, and I had to assume Alberta was walking away. Sure enough, Dimitri rounded the corner and stood in front of the holly. I shot up from my hiding spot. The look on his face told me he already knew what was coming.

"Rose–"

"Dashkov?!" I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice low so Alberta wouldn't hear. "As in Victor Dashkov?"

He didn't bother denying it. "Yes. Victor Dashkov."

"And you guys were talking about... Do you mean..." I was so startled, so dumbstruck, that I could barely get my thoughts together. This was unbelievable. "I thought he was locked up! Are you saying he hasn't been on trial yet?" I was hysterical. I'm not one to fear a lot but Victor Dashkov being free scared the hell out of me.

"No, he's been locked up, but no trial yet. Don't worry about it."

My hysterics turned to anger. "Don't _worry_ about it?! Dimitri he captured my best friend and tourtured her to make her heal his sorry ass! If he gets free how do we know he won't do it again?!" He looked taken aback.

"But there's going to be a trial now? And you're going?" I spoke through clenched teeth, trying to be calm. I suspected I still had the I'm-going-to-punch-someone look on my face.

"Next week. They need me and some of the other guardians to testify about what happened to you and Lissa that night." His expression changed at the mention of what had occurred four months ago, and again, I recognized the look. It was the fierce, protective one he got when those he cared about were in danger.

"You're going? If you don't remember, you were a bit occupied when she was being tortured. _I _was in her head! Why the hell do the guardians get to go but the people who it actually happened to don't?!"

Dimitri, fully in strict-instructor mode now, shook his head. "The queen and some of the other guardians thought it'd be best if you didn't go. There's enough evidence between the rest of us, and besides, criminal or not, he is–or was–one of the most powerful royals in the world."

So, what, you thought if you brought us, we'd tell everyone?" I exclaimed. "Come on, comrade. You really think we'd do that? The only thing we want is to see Victor locked up. Forever. Maybe longer. And if there's a chance he might walk free, you have to let us go."

"It's not my decision to make," Dimitri said.

"Yeah, so are a lot of things," I growled. I turned my back to him and walked to the door. Two strong hands grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face him.

"Rose, that's not fair." I instantly felt bad. I shouldn't blame him for things that he couldn't control. I was just angry to control what I was saying. Tears were building up in my eyes as he made me look at him.

"Rose, if I could do anything about that, then I would. Believe that I would." Those words broke the dam holding back my tears. I let out a sob and he pulled me into him. I buried my face in his chest sobbing.

"Don't worry Roza," he said rubbing my back, " I wont let anything happen to you."


End file.
